When she called police, they traced the calls south to the suburban Potomac, Md., home of Theodore and Elisabeth James.

But no one in the James family was making the calls. The prankster was an unused heating oil tank in the basement equipped years ago with a device to automatically dial an oil company when fuel ran low.

Steuart Petroleum in Washington installed the device about eight years ago in a half-dozen homes participating in a shortlived test. The tank was dialing an 800 number Steuart dropped several years ago. It's Graybeal's business number now.